Three people were killed in a bomb explosion in Moscow on Wednesday after two police officers approached a man who was behaving suspiciously near the location where a senior Russian military general had been assassinated just two days earlier. The blast occurred in close proximity to the site of the earlier car bomb attack, which Russian authorities have blamed on Ukrainian intelligence.
According to Russia’s State Investigative Committee, the two police officers lost their lives when an explosive device was detonated as they tried to question the man. The agency confirmed that a third individual was also killed in the explosion, although it did not immediately clarify the identity of that person. Criminal cases have been opened under sections related to the murder of law enforcement personnel and the illegal trafficking and use of explosive devices.
The incident has heightened tensions in the Russian capital, especially as it follows a series of targeted killings of Russian military officials and prominent supporters of the war in Ukraine over the past four years. Ukrainian military intelligence has previously claimed responsibility for several such attacks, though there has been no official comment from Kyiv regarding the latest explosion.
Residents living near the blast site described scenes of panic and fear. One local resident, Alexander, told Reuters that the explosion was extremely loud and reminded him of the car bomb blast that occurred nearby earlier in the week. Another resident, Roza, said she was jolted awake in the early hours by the force of the explosion and felt the entire building shake.
Unofficial Russian Telegram channels reported that the suspect may have been carrying the bomb and detonated it when confronted by the police officers. However, these claims have not been independently verified by Reuters or confirmed by Russian authorities.
The explosion took place close to the spot where Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, head of the operational training directorate of the Russian General Staff, was killed on Monday in a car bombing. Russian officials have stated that they suspect Ukrainian involvement in Sarvarov’s death.
Adding to the charged atmosphere, Myrotvorets, an unofficial Ukrainian website that lists individuals it labels as war criminals or enemies, updated its entry on Sarvarov, stating that the 56-year-old general had been “liquidated.”
